Lakers News: Details On Sunday's George Mikan Jersey Retirement Ceremony
Your Los Angeles Lakers will be retiring the No. 99 jersey worn by former Minnesota Lakers big man George Mikan this Sunday, October 30th, during a special pregame celebration ahead of the team's second contest against evolutionary center Nikola Jokic and his Denver Nuggets, the team announced in a press release (h/t to Jovan Buha of The Athletic).
The team's statement indicates that Mikan will be the 11th Laker to have his jersey number retired. Of course, that means No. 99 will be the 12th unavailable number for future Lakers players, as both of five-time title-winning point guard Kobe Bryant's jerseys, No. 8 and No. 24, have been retired.
We previously revealed last month that Mikan's jersey ceremony was set to transpire Sunday against the Nuggets, but this intel from L.A. sheds further light on the timing of that process.
The 6'10" center out of DePaul University was a four-time All-Star and five-time NBA/BAA champion while leading the Lakers from 1947-1954, and again during the 1955-1956 season. He averaged 23.1 points, 13.4 boards, and 2.8 dimes in 439 contests for Minnesota. Following his final retirement in 1956 (he had also retired in 1954, but returned to the team mid-season the next year), he briefly coached the Lakers across 39 games during the 1957-58 season, and then served as the ABA's first commissioner from 1967-1969.
As my All Lakers colleague Ryan Menzie notes, it seems quite likely that Lakers team governor Jeanie Buss and recently extended vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka could be booed by fans during this ceremony for transforming the 2020 champs into playoff-missing chumps in just two seasons. L.A. is currently 0-4, having just lost 110-99 to the Nuggets in Denver last night. The team is hoping to win its next game, a road contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night.
